NFL London Games: Does day of arrival matter – and how do trips impact rest of season?

The great Bill Belichick always tells it like is. Especially on a damp Friday morning, shortly after stepping off a transatlantic flight.

On his second business trip to London in 2012, the former New England Patriots head coach was asked for his thoughts about the NFL’s international program.

“Wherever they schedule them, we play them. Our job is just to get ready to play,” Belichick told reporters at the Grosvenor House Hotel. Two days later, the Patriots battered the St. Louis Rams 45-7 at Wembley Stadium. Like so many times before and after, Belichick had done his job.

Jetlagged coaches and teams have had to formulate game plans and travel plans for the English capital since 2007. Then, the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins clogged up the Wembley pitch during the NFL’s first regular season contest outside North America. Teams have returned every year, the Covid-impacted 2020 season aside.

All 32 franchises have visited London at least once, with 36 games played across three separate stadiums. The grass of Wembley has withstood 25 games, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium’s turf another eight and Twickenham, the home of rugby, hosted three in 2016 and 2017. Tottenham’s £1billion ($1.2bn) ground opened in 2019 and is the only purpose-built NFL stadium outside the U.S. It will host games until 2030 at least.

The NFL’s desire to play on foreign fields is insatiable. After expanding the season to 17 regular season games in 2021 to better accommodate its global goals (and irritate season ticket holders only slightly less), NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in September that he wants to see 16 overseas games played each season.

Mexico, Germany and now Brazil have held match-ups. After a double-header in Frankfurt last year, Munich will host its second game in November when the New York Giants play the Carolina Panthers.

Spain is next, with Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu added to the rotation in 2025, which could see eight games played outside the U.S. In the not-too-distant future, there is talk of Dublin and Berlin. Perhaps Australia too.

After turning Sao Paulo green on the second day of the season, the NFL’s travelling circus lands in London with three games on back-to-back weekends once more.

This Sunday at Tottenham, the Minnesota Vikings (4-0) entertain the New York Jets (2-2). The following Sunday Jacksonville Jaguars will face the Chicago Bears at the same venue. The Jaguars will stay in England for nine nights in total, as they did in 2023; they will host the Patriots on October 20 at Wembley, the stadium so coveted by owner Shahid Khan.

Of the 36 regular season games played in London, teams have arrived on the same day 17 times (Monday twice, Tuesday once and Friday on 14 occasions). For the remaining 19 games, the team that arrived earlier won 12 times, with teams arriving later winning seven times. As a footnote, both the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington landed on Friday before their 27-27 tie at Wembley in 2016.

Friday is the most popular day for teams to touch down, with 46 of 71 separate arrivals (65 per cent). Fourteen teams have landed on Mondays (20 per cent), eight on Tuesdays (11 per cent) and three on Thursdays (four per cent).

Here is every NFL game played in London; with the day of each team’s arrival in brackets.

Certain teams are creatures of habit. The 2-0 San Francisco 49ers — who have not played in England since 2013 — like to arrive on Monday, as do the New Orleans Saints (2-1).

Under Belichick, the Patriots landed on Friday in 2009 and 2012. They racked up 80 points as they breezed past the terrible Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the wretched Rams, but you can only beat what’s in front of you. Other teams are not as successful — Friday arrivals for the Tennessee Titans have yielded an 0-2 record in England.

The Patriots playing in London in 2012 (Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)

As a copycat league, many NFL teams have looked to Jacksonville, London’s most frequent visitors. They have signed multi-year deals to play at Wembley until this season, and are shoo-ins to renew it. During their 11 games from 10 trips since 2013, the Jags first arrived on Tuesday, then switched to Monday but have settled on Fridays, doing so for their past eight visits.

Last year, the Jaguars flew in, stayed two nights at The Grove and beat the Atlanta Falcons at Wembley. Immediately after the game, six coaches packed with players and all staff — as well as significant amounts of equipment — moved to Hanbury Manor for a seven-night stay. They then made it back-to-back wins at Tottenham, beating the Buffalo Bills who had arrived two days before, and flew back to Florida.

Now 6-5 in London, the Jaguars continue their unenviable run of having never arrived in England with a winning record. They are not alone. Only 32 per cent (23 of 72 teams) have.

Those figures are almost exactly replicated for the number of teams who go on to reach the playoffs after playing in London (31 per cent — 22 out of 72). So far, the 2007 Giants are the only team to go on to reach — and win — a Super Bowl.

Which brings us to the return home. In 2016, the Indianapolis Colts became the first team to eschew a bye following the trip to London. In 2022, two did (Dolphins, Falcons), two didn’t (Jets and Jaguars). The Broncos were the only team to take an immediate bye in 2023 (Vikings, Saints, Giants, Packers and Jaguars did not) and the Titans likewise in 2024 (Jaguars, Falcons, Bills and Baltimore Ravens did not). This season, the Vikings and Bears will have byes when they return, the Jets, Jaguars and Patriots will not.

Speaking at his press conference on Wednesday, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said: “We’re subject to the schedule. Mike North (NFL vice president of broadcast planning) and the gang do a great job with giving you some opportunity to have some dialogue, especially when you have significant travel like this.

“But we just thought, you know, get off to a good start hopefully – and quite honestly, expected to do so. Let’s put everything we got into this trip, and then give the players a chance to kind of reset and lock and load.”

The Vikings — who play their fourth game in London on Sunday — have played at three different stadiums, winning them all. They have done so under three different head coaches and with three different quarterbacks. Not to mention three different arrival days (Tuesday, Thursday and Friday).

Following normal practices at TCO Performance Center on Wednesday and Thursday, the team will take an overnight charter plane to London, mirroring 2022’s schedule.

O’Connell oversaw that victory over the New Orleans Saints at Tottenham and the Vikings’ third-year head coach explained the decision in his Monday press conference. “It’s all about the intent of making sure the players know exactly what to expect, what the challenges may be,” he said. “There’s no smoke and mirrors to it. It’s a difficult week, but it’s a difficult week for both teams with the travel. The best thing you can do is not try to confuse anybody, not try to trick anybody. ‘Here’s what it is, here’s how we’re going to attack it, and here’s why’. Our guys always respond to that.”

The Jets will also arrive on Friday — as they did for their last visit, a defeat by Atlanta in 2021 — but head coach Robert Saleh hinted at minor tweaks.

The Jets will arrive on Friday (Luke Hales/Getty Images)

“There’s some variation. It’s similar in that we’re leaving on Thursday night. But there’s going to be some variation to how we operate once we arrive, including Saturday. So it’s a little nuanced to see if we can start a little bit faster than we did the last time we went there,” he said in his Monday press conference.

Saleh will hope the trip adds some levity to a season that appears increasingly tetchy. After all, trips to London can be stressful, as John Harbaugh showed in 2017 with his reflections of Baltimore’s 44-7 defeat against Jacksonville.

“To be honest with you — and maybe I’ll get into trouble for saying this — don’t plan on going over there any time soon to play again,” head coach Harbaugh said. “So, somebody else can have that job.”

When the Ravens returned last year, Harbaugh did everything differently. He embarked on a charm offensive and arrived on Tuesday before a resounding victory over Tennessee at Tottenham.

For some teams, the break comes at exactly the right time. Members of the 2007 Giants said the London trip was the foundation of their improbable Super Bowl run.

“It was fun to go over there in ’07 and hang out and go to dinner on Friday night and have a good bit of time to be with the players,” quarterback Eli Manning said on his return visit with the Giants in 2016.

“It’s good to have that away trip and see what a team is made of when circumstances change and the schedule changes and how we can adapt and still play at a high level.”

Victory over the winless Dolphins was the first of eight straight road wins as the Giants went on to topple the 2007 Patriots, then the highest-scoring team in NFL history. In doing so, it shattered hopes of a perfect season for the likes of Tom Brady, Randy Moss and Belichick.

Speaking of whom, it appears his blueprint was as perfect in 2012 as it is now: arrive on Friday, play a bad team and win heavily. That’s the way to do London.

(Top photo: Getty Images)